MONEY AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 43, 19 January 1938, Page 5

MONEY AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS.

THE OUTLOOK. (By “H.J.K.”) The international atmosphere appears very uncertain. No nation is sure of what lies ahead, because of poor visibility. Even in Britain uncertainty is in the air. This is disclosed by the man in the street when approached to express an opinion. His reply is “I don’t know what to think. Yet with all this uncertainty there is a singular absence of pessimism, and that may be attributed to the fact that the underlying factors show the general economic position to be sound. It would be very difficult to trace this uncertainty to its source; P e 7 ia P it has several sources; but there is doubt that America has been the cluef source. There can be no doubt about the collapse of President ltoosei e t s economi c pi an. The theory of lavishly to bring about economic reco erv has been proved to be a will-o -thetkpltwas a theory directly opposed to the laws of economics, and its rail ure was inevitable. What is h d ap^ d now? A new plan must be tried, £",• President ltoosevelt is busy on ha It was at one time feared that rne President would continue to capital a nd so antagon.se it. 6 but d I has since chang-d ms r seeking the cooperation of the M corporations. Government control an^ G t°kbuTfau- to gi£ Private enterprise it, is but ran to „i ' t , n ecoan opportunity, of taking is nomic recovery J h p ; lent Roosevelt ” America can do many things with fidence v . . j. iu. country on tions alone would st Thig has the right road to recovery. Seramilliorimuses, 1 if built this Year, would not be anywhere near• sufficient for the needs of the coa T nomic potion of .the that indTS other, growth. The exports tor ~00 989 . I-91 594000 an increase WO compared with the previous year while the imports amounted 065,000, as compared with |°l’ 3l3 ’ S„„ed b, p- e ri67 O(W' X good deal° of Britain’s hnports' for other countries especially in ra.w the total deducted from 146,000. increase of import® 1 re t hus The net imports tor tne y«ai _ £953,898,000, and , th l® the 594,000. The imports thus e * G | 432 294 - exports by the .huge sum of £432

:n +Vio aggregate amount to a & this total at £200,000,000 and even when this is deducted the.balance Vhi, The position could be eased to some extent P bv Britain resuming foreign fending. Wy, for very -much in need of capital for the de velopment of her resources, and Tw kev T is a safe country to invest in safer than Italy or Germany or J apauSince the depression began in 19 , the British Government has a ban on foreign lending. No foreign government, or foreign bank or corporation, has been permitted to appea.l to the British public for loans. Even the Dominions have been held m check, but no ban has been placed on conversion loans. By pursuing this policy the savings of the Bntish peopl have been conserved for British loan , I ami this has been a fj ?ct°r ] n securing cheap money for the industries of the I country. The Government is now heling urged to remove the ban wholly or in part, but the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Cha.mberlain) has declared that the timo has not arrived to permit of foreign lending. . , , The only other item of interest is the political and financial crisis . m France. Actually it is more political than financial, and France will wriggle out of it as she lias done on previous occasions. But it must be obvious that with price breaks in New York,

tension in France and semi-bank-ruptcy in Italy and Germany, the outlook becomes obscure and uncertain, and this uncertainty is checking business. Locally nothing can be said of the economic conditions, for the people have scarcely settled down after the holidays. It may be quite a pother fortnight or a month before business gets into its full swing.